Three Iranians indicted for cyberhacking Trump campaign

(Washington) Three suspected Iranian cyberhackers acting on behalf of Tehran are being prosecuted in the United States for hacking Donald Trump’s campaign, American judicial authorities announced on Friday.

The US State Department also announced a reward of up to $10 million for information on these three men, suspected of being linked to the Revolutionary Guards, the ideological army of the Islamic Republic. The US Treasury, for its part, imposed financial sanctions against seven people, including one of the accused.

The alleged hacking is part of Iran’s “attempts to sow discord and undermine confidence in the US electoral system,” US Attorney General Merrick Garland said at a conference press.

“The message from the U.S. government is clear: It is the American people, not a foreign power, who decide the outcome of our elections, not Iran and its malicious cyber actions,” he said.

“Not Russia” and “not China,” insisted the minister, in reference to the attempts at interference attributed to these two countries by the United States.

The indictment made public on Friday targets three Iranian nationals “employed by the Revolutionary Guards” who, starting in May, began to specifically target the “presidential campaign 1”, in reference to Donald Trump, who is not specifically cited.

This cyberhacking offensive was “sponsored by the Iranian government,” said the director of the American Federal Police (FBI), Christopher Wray, in a statement, adding to Tehran: “You and your hackers cannot hide behind your keyboards.”

They are being prosecuted for computer hacking, support for “terrorism” – the Revolutionary Guards have been on the American blacklist of “foreign terrorist organizations” since 2019 – electronic fraud and identity theft.

Operation launched since 2020

These three Iranian residents are presented as experienced cyberhackers, engaged since January 2020 in a vast operation with multiple objectives: hacking of data, information on American policy in the Middle East, or even advancing plans for retaliation for the death of General Qassem Soleimani, according to the indictment.

This officer of the Revolutionary Guards, architect of Iranian military operations in the Middle East, was killed on January 3, 2020 in a drone strike in Iraq ordered by Donald Trump.

Cyberhackers would then have more particularly targeted the Republican candidate’s campaign in recent months.

After managing through phishing operations to obtain access to the electronic mails of several campaign officials, they stole information on the preparation of the June presidential debate and Donald Trump’s potential running mates, according to the same source.

The Treasury Department simultaneously announced sanctions against seven individuals for their alleged involvement in “Iran’s operations to influence or interfere in the 2020 and 2024 presidential elections.”

This is one of three defendants as well as six employees of an Iranian cybersecurity company, Emennet Pasargad, itself already hit by American sanctions.

On August 19, American intelligence services blamed Iran for hacking attempts against the campaigns of Donald Trump and his Democratic opponent, Vice-President Kamala Harris, including one revealed on August 10 by the candidate’s team. republican.

On September 18, American authorities claimed that Iranian cyberhackers had sent documents to the campaign team of outgoing Democratic President Joe Biden, who has since withdrawn from the race for the White House in favor of Kamala Harris. “stolen” from Donald Trump’s team.

Joe Biden’s team did not follow up on these leak proposals, according to American intelligence and the indictment.